Telephone or telegraph system.



No. 700,380. Pafent'ed May 20", I902.

E. SHELBY.

TELEPHONE 0R TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.

(Applicatioxi filed. am. 17. 1900.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: E v INVENTOR.

' BY M- 1m: Mann FETERS 0a.. FNOTO-LITHO.. wasmucTOM, D. c

f Lafayette, countyof Tippecanoe, and State To aZZ'whom it'm wy' concernq' UNITED; (STATE EvA'N sHELBY, OF WEST AFAYETTE, minim;

TELE PH -Q-NE (JR-TELEGRAPH SYSTEMQH 'sencrrrcnrrou-r rm ng part of'Letters Patent No. 700,380, datedMay 20,1902; v p

A Aipplica tien filerlSeptember17,1900. SeriaINaSOJM. (lumbar),

Be it known tIiatL-EVANSHELBL of of Indiana, have inVented-acertain newand;

useful Telephoneor TelegraphSystem 3 and I do hereby declare :that 'the following isa full,'clear,'and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gs,in which like numeralsrefer to like parts. I This invention relates 'to a telephone or telegraph system toenablei'one'to cut into regular telephoneortelegraph lines at an intermediate point without affecting the use of the regular lines excepting when the. inter-'1' mediate telephonevo'r telegraph connection is in use; The intermediate 'telephone or telegraph connectionIis a permanent one nounted on the'telephone or.t elegraph-*p ole or any other convenient or suitable means. Then it is not being used, the regular lines with which it is connected will not be affected.

One of the important uses of thissystern is to provide telephones for police-calls or pa trol-boxes,fire-alarms,or any similar purpose. For illustration, this system for police-calls can be introduced by merely placing, jacks inclosed in suitable boxes on the telephonepol-es at .Various pointsinatown or city; and connecting the boxes with the regulartelephone-Wires above. This avoids the neees' sity of an independent'telephonesystem for suchpurposes and does not mater-iallyinterfere with the use of the regular lines.

The full nature of this invention willbe understood from the accompanying drawings and the description and claims fo1lowing.--

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of aportion of a telephone-pole brokerfawayatithe lower end and midway and carrying telephone-wires and having a box for a'jack mounted thereon to show one use of this sys tern. Fig. 2 isa central longitudinal section of the jack employed in connecting the telephone or telegraph instrument by means of a plug with the regular telephone or telegraph lines above.- Fig. 3 is a part of Fig. 2 with the plug in place in the jack and partly broken away. Fig. 4 is a diagram of the circuits and wiring in said system.

theWire-S- or one of'said wires whiehjforms t v one-side of the circuit a break is made by meansof' the intervening wire or connection 5', "so as to separate theportions of the wirej3. Y i

on each side of V the cross-arm 2 and insulate "them from each other. From each of the adjacent ends of the main wire3 thus separated wires 6 and 7;. are extended down into .thebox 8 -to the spring-jack at 10," and when {s id sp ing-iacl i otp sethe parts are so arranged, 'as will; hereinafter app ear, as to maintain conneetionbetween the wires6 and .7. .In;' suchcasesdhe circuit from one portion of the wire 3 passesthrough-the wires 6 7o and 7 to the otherportion of the wire 3, and the line can be used the same as if it were not'broken.

The boxis secured to thetelephone-pole 1 down low enough to be accessible to a person standing on the ground and is provided with a door 9, capable of being locked, and the spring-jack, that is shownin Fig. 2. The jack is, preferably located in the door and secured therein by the ring-nut 10, which screws into :89 the internally-threaded collar 12 on the outer end of'the tubularcasing 13 of the jack.

, The jack has two conducting-springs 15 and 16 and two conducting-strips lfi and 17, secured in place :by the screws 18 and at the point of mounting insulated from each other and from thescrews by the insulating-strips 19, 20, 21, and 22. At their outer ends the springs 15 and 16 are bent to form contactpoints that engage the plug 35 when in place. For that purpose the tubular casing 13 is slotted tolet'the ends of said spring extend into said casing, substantially as shownfin Fig. 2, when the plug is out. In the unused condition thespring 15 is out of contact with the strip 14: and in contact with the strip 17. The spring 16 is out of contact with" the other v springs and strips at all times. The strip 17,

which is stationary, as here shown,'has a conducting-pin 23 extending from it into contact with the spring 15 when there is no plug in the jack. When a plug is inserted,.it first ingthe ordinary conducting-Wiresconnecting-., the telephones of subscribers with the cen\ tral ofl ice, including thewires-3 andgwhich Q gforintwo sides of] the circuitrunning to one 55- telephone fromthe 3 central-station set." In

pushes the spring outward, whereby it contacts with contact-point 2a on the spring 14, and it ceases to engage the pin on the strip 17, thus discontinuing service on the subscribers telephone and enabling the operator to have private and undisturbed use. \Vhen the plug is pushed in fully at its inner end, it engages the inclined surface on the outer end of the spring 16, thus making contact with said spring and at the same time crowding said spring outward, as appears in Fig. 3. Said outward movement of the spring 16 causes it, through the insulating projection 26, secured to the strip 1-1, to push said strip 14 out of contact with spring 15. Then spring 15 is out of contactwith any other spring or strip.

In the box 8 or somewhere else a suitable battery 27 is placed, said battery not being shown here excepting in the diagram. The wire 6 is connected with spring 17 on the jack and wire 7 with spring 15. \Vire 28 connects the spring 1! with the battery 27, and wire 29 (shown in Figs. 1 and 4) extends from the battery to the return-wire of the circuit. The wire 30 connects the wire 28 with strip 14: in the jack.

The wiring and circuits of the system appear in Fig. 4. 31 represents a subscribers telephone. Wire 3 runs therefrom through the connections just described to the central oiiice (represented by the jack 32 at the other end of the diagram and the drop 33.) 4 is the return-wire. This diagram shows the wiring and circuits as they exist while the intermediate-telephone connection herein shown is not in use. Thus in the diagram the wire 3 from the subscribers telephone connects with the wire 6, and the circuit runs through the spring or conducting-strip 17 and through pin 23 to the spring 15 and then through the wire 7 back to the other portion of the line 3, making an unbroken line from the subscribers telephone to the central office. In such case the subscriber can use his telephone without anyinconvenience or interruption by reason of the intermediate-telephone arrangement. VVhen,however,theintermediate telephone 36 is used, the plug is inserted in the jack. In the first place it moves the end of the spring 15 into momentary contact with the strip 14: and out of contact with the pin 23, thus breaking connection with the subscribers telephone and making a short circuit through the battery to the central office. When the plug is fully inserted, the spring 15 is still held away from the pin 23 and the circuit is complete through the telephone. During the use of this intermediate telephone it is therefore apparent that the regular subscribers telephone is cut out. \Vhen the intermediate-telephone plug is withdrawn, the parts resume the position indicated by dia gram in Fig. 4:, and then the subscriber can use his telephone, as before. In ordinary use the door of the box 8 does not have to be opened. No one excepting the electrical repair man need enter the box or have a key for it. The policeman or other individual needs only to insert the plug of the telephone instru ment in the jack, ashas been explained, do his telephoning, and withdraw the plug. For this use a pocket-telephone is best.

lVhile the above description, as well as the drawings, show a telephone system, the same construction, arrangement, and principle are equally well adapted to a telegraph system, there being no difference in the wiring or the 'ack. J What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a telephone and telegraph system, a spring-jack including a pair of contact-strips normally in contact, and a pair of contactstrips normally isolated but capable of alternative connectionwith one strip of the first pair after it is separated from the other strip of the first pair.

2. In a telephone and telegraph system, a spring-jack including a pair of contact-strips normally in contact, a pair of contact-strips normally isolated, and a plug that separates the first pair of contact-strips and while ontering connects one of the first pair with one of the second pair and when in place leaves the latter separated but connects one strip of thefirst pair with the other strip of the second pair.

3. In a telephone or telegraph systcm,a jack having two springs engaged by the plug when inserted, and two conducting-strips not engaged by the plug, one of said springs being connected with one of the strips while the jack is not in use and disconnected while in use, and momentarily connected with the other strip while the plug is being inserted in the jack.

4. Inatelephone or telegraph system,ajack having two springs engaged by the plug when inserted and two conducting-strips not engaged by the plug, one of said springs being connected with one of said strips when the jack is not in use, and adapted to be held away from said strip by the plug when inserted and momentarily connected with the other strip as the plug is being inserted, and insulating means whereby said strip is disconnected by the other spring when it is engaged by the plug.

5. In a telephone and telegraph system, the two wires of a circuit, one of which wires is broken or separated, a spring-jack having a pair of contact-strips normallyin contact with each other and connected with the respective ends of the broken wire and a pair of contactstrips normallyisolated but capable of alternate connection with one strip of the first pair after it is separated from the other strip of -700,380- i p p i 3 adapted to be engaged by th'e plug, when in-; otheri spring 'and strip'to" the hatterfland a I wvire frointhe battery tothe nnbrokencircuit i serted and two conducting-strips not engaged by the plug, one of said springs being connected with one of the strips While the jack is not in use and disconnected while in use and momentarily connected with the other strip While the plug'is beinginserted in the jack, wires leading from. said connecting spring and strip to the members of the broken io circuit-Wire, a battery, Wires leading from the wire.

herein named.

In witness whereofilhztt e hereniito'affixefi t Vmysignaturein'thepresenceofi the witnesses I5 1' EVAN' SHELBY; 1 I t 

